IBM MRFM setup

IBM MRFM setup

Date added:
13 Jan 2009

Basic setup for nanoscale MRI using a magnetic resonance force microscope. An ultrasensitive silicon cantilever with the virus attached to its end is shown hovering over a magnetic tip. A high frequency magnetic field applied through the "microwire" underneath the tip is used to manipulate the hydrogen nuclei in the virus sample, but only in the region of the "resonant slice". Rapid flipping of the hydrogen nuclei cause the cantilever to vibrate very slightly due to the magnetic forces between the hydrogen nuclei and the magnetic tip. The cantilever vibration is detected using a laser interferometer. By scanning the magnetic tip in a three-dimensional raster pattern and applying a sophisticated image reconstruction algorithm, a 3D image of the sample is obtained.
Adapted from Fig. 1 of PNAS article.